Are voters getting angrier?
“Michelle Grattan's politics with Graeme Samuel bemoans the 'doomsday' attacks on the federal budget as the reason multiple treasurers haven’t been afraid to fix the housing problem till now, in contrast to the Hawke/Keating years. He blames the right wing section of the traditional media but that has always been with us. The new thing this century has been the internet and social media which has well-nigh killed Australian journalism and given vast new playing fields for disinformation. Algorithms have made Australians an angrier people which suits grievance politics.”
Gary Barnes, Mosman NSW

Australia’s slowing economy
“Australia’s economy isn’t just slowing—it’s going backwards for ordinary people. We have poured too much of our national wealth into housing, inflating asset prices while starving productive sectors that actually lift wages and living standards. On paper, it looks like growth. In reality, it’s an economy propped up by mortgages. Meanwhile, policymakers have relied on stopgap measures. Immigration has helped keep the headline numbers afloat, but it cannot keep patching over the real problem: wages going nowhere while the cost of living keeps climbing. For most Australians—those outside property and investment circles—this feels like a recession that never ends. Real earning power has fallen. Rent and mortgages dominate household budgets. The basics cost more, but pay packets haven’t kept up. We can debate the technical definition of recession, but the lived experience is clear: Australians are worse off than they were five years ago.”
Scott Draffin

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